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In April 2005, non-management lawyers working at the federal Department of Justice Canada (DOJ) were recognized by the Public Service Labour Relations Act (PSLRA) as employees. This dissertation explores DOJ lawyers unionizing by addressing two research questions: (1) what led DOJ lawyers to unionize with the Association of Justice Counsel (AJC)? and (2) what was the AJC’s experience in negotiating a first collective agreement? The dissertation is organized using a conventional structure. The literature review presented in Chapter 2 maps the academic study of lawyer unionization. Chapter 3 elaborates on the dissertation’s research design as a case study. Chapter 4 explains DOJ lawyers’ exclusion from the Public Service Staff Relations Act, the DOJ’s administration of the individual employment relationship, and introduces the Legal Officers’ Advisory Committee (LOAC). Chapter 5 provides a historical analysis of events leading to LOAC becoming the AJC. The chapter describes how redressing an exclusive wage premium known as the “Toronto differential” helped LOAC generate employee support for forming the AJC as a professional association, and, later, campaigning for union recognition under the PSLRA. Chapter 6 presents the AJC’s negotiation and completion of a first labour agreement. Chapter 7 concludes the work. Findings from the seven chapters are synthesized into a descriptive theory that addresses the two research questions. Its thesis is that DOJ lawyers’ desire for workplace representation and improved wages, executive level support from the DOJ, and introduction of the PSLRA facilitated the creation and development of the AJC into a vehicle that directed the unionization process. The argument further holds that the AJC negotiated a first collective agreement with an employer who engaged in hard bargaining that resulted in deadlocked negotiations, but was conduct, nonetheless, the courts determined had allowed the AJC a meaningful process of collective bargaining prior to the imposition of wage-restraint legislation. The dissertation’s findings: (1) detail the establishment of a new professional union in Canada’s federal public service; (2) confirm the relevance of the processual model for understanding DOJ lawyers unionizing; and (3) suggest that litigation challenging legislation remains unpredictable despite jurisprudence that protects the process of collective bargaining.

This article reviews the book, "Autoworkers Under the Gun: A Shop-Floor View of the End of the American Dream," by Gregg Shotwell.

Work, Industry and Canadian Society brings to light the social ramifications of work. With a focus on the Canadian workplace, the author team examines how individual, societal, national, and global issues shape this central human activity. In this seventh edition, the text draws upon the growing literature on work and employment, organizations, and management approaches to incorporate recent empirical findings, review new and ongoing theoretical and policy debates, and provide a more international perspective. The authors use their years of experience in research and teaching to compose this comprehensive volume on the past, present and future of work in Canada. --Publisher's description

The 2008 financial crisis had a tremendous impact on the Greek economy and society. Since 2010, widespread popular mobilizations have emerged against the austerity measures that were part of the bail-out package proposed to the Greek governments by the Troika of creditors (EU-ECB-IMF). Yet the institutional trade unions have failed to impede the reduction of wage earners’ income, which, by 2013, had dropped by 50% compared to 2008 levels. These unions have also been largely unable to confirm their leading role in mobilizing the working population. This article examines the reasons for the failure of the institutional trade unions to adequately address the austerity challenge. We consider that the explanation of their shortcomings lies in the generic challenges and problems contemporary trade unions are facing, as documented in the relevant international literature, as well as the specific particularities and traits of the Greek socio-political context. We also investigate the alternatives proposed by militant, grassroots labour organizations, such as neighbourhood-based workers’ clubs, industry sector or company-based unions populated by precarious workers, and occupied, self-managed companies. After identifying the strong points of the latter’s contributions, as well as the problems and challenges they are facing, we conclude that a diversified and innovative approach is required on the part of the labour movement in order to simultaneously address and exploit all sources of workers’ power. The article concludes that a process of strategic rapprochement between mainstream and radical unions in Greece is necessary.

This fifth volume of the History of the Prairie West Series contains a broad range of articles spanning the 1870s to the present and examines the mostly unexplored place of women in the history of the Canada's Prairie Provinces. From "Spinsters Need Not Apply" to "Negotiating Sex: Gender in the Ukrainian Bloc Settlement," women’s roles in politics, law, agriculture, labour, and journalism are explored to reveal a complex portrait of women struggling to find safety, have careers, raise children, and be themselves in an often harsh environment.

Quebec's occupational health and safety regime has not kept pace with the far-reaching transformation in work organisation which has occurred in the past several decades. Rights and duties under Quebec legislation continue to be defined in relation to the paradigm of the traditional contract of employment, even though the concept of the employment contract is of diminishing relevance in the face of ever-increasing use of contracting, subcontracting, labour hire agencies, supply chains and other alternative work arrangements. Given the documented link between precarious work and a heightened risk of job-related hazards, and that health and safety at work has long been recognized as a fun- damental human right, the author argues that Quebec law is in need of reform. Such reform, she contends, could be modelled on the harmonised Work Health and Safety Acts recently adopted by most Australian jurisdictions. The most notable innovation in the Australian statutes is the imposition of a broad gen- eral duty of care on any "person conducting a business or undertaking. " That duty applies to all categories of workers, regardless of whether or not there is an employment contract. Furthermore, the Acts stipulate that where multiple persons are involved in the conduct of a business or undertaking, they are obli- gated to consult, cooperate and coordinate in order to ensure the health and safety of workers, all of whom are entitled to participate in the consultations through their elected representatives. While noting that effective enforcement of these provisions continues to present challenges, the author sees the Australian reform as an important step forward in providing occupational health and safety protections for precarious workers.

The present analysis seeks to examine whether the 2008 recession had a differential impact on Aboriginal as compared to non-Aboriginal Canadians as measured by the differences in the probability of unemployment between the two groups. Specifically, the present study tests two hypotheses: 1- Aboriginal people have been disproportionately burdened by the Great Recession as compared to non-Aboriginal people, and as a consequence; 2- Aboriginal people are more likely than non-Aboriginal people to be discouraged workers. The study uses data obtained from the master files of the Canadian Labour Force Survey for the years 2007 to 2012 inclusive to estimate the probability that an individual is unemployed based on a set of observable characteristics for a sample of labour force participants. The methodology begins by estimating a pooled model across all years, which includes controls for Aboriginal identity. Secondly, individual models of the probability of unemployment are estimated for each year for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal labour force participants. The difference in the probability of unemployment from pooled models estimated separately for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples are decomposed to reveal the proportion of the gap that is due to differences in observable characteristics between the two groups and the amount of the gap that is attributable to differential returns to those characteristics. To investigate the second hypothesis, the study estimates the probability that a respondent is a discouraged worker based on the entire sample of both economically active and inactive persons (i.e. labour force participants and well as those not in the labour force). The results of both the pooled and individual models of the probability of unemployment support the first hypothesis, that Aboriginal peoples were disproportionately burdened by the 2008 recession as seen in higher and more enduring probabilities of unemployment. By the 2012, estimated unemployment rates had roughly returned to their pre-recessionary levels for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal respondents with strongest labour force attachments. When individuals with weaker labour force attachments (i.e. those who have been unemployed for more than twelve months) are included in the analysis, the gap between the probability of unemployment for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal persons widens. Furthermore, the second hypothesis, that Aboriginal people are more likely to be discouraged workers, was supported, as Aboriginal people were more likely to be discouraged workers in 2008-2010 and 2012.

This essay argues that union democracy (in the sense of active direct democracy at local levels in combination with highly accountable representative systems at more general levels) can be an important foundation for efforts to build a participatory society. It establishes, through a literature review, that pessimism about the capacity of unions to be functioning democracies is overstated; and then offers corrections for three weaknesses in the classical theory of participatory democracy. The first weakness – failing to analyze how participatory processes are gendered, racialized, and sexualized – is overcome by drawing upon feminist ideas for creating highly inclusive group processes. The second weakness – believing that an exaggerated consensus can be created through participation – is remedied with insights drawn from agonistic pluralism. The third weakness – assuming that participation in workplace governance is the essential, participatory training ground – is corrected with insights drawn from research on deliberative democracy. After enumerating eight reasons to pick unions as a focus for participatory efforts from amongst the various alternatives, the essay concludes with a historical example of how the combination of direct democracy and representative democratic accountability in the five United Mine Workers of America locals in the Crowsnest Pass, Canada, in the mid-20th century “spilled over” into this regional coalfield society, thereby nurturing a fledgling participatory society.

Examines the participation of young workers in unions as well as their place in unions' committee structures. Considers the literature on integration of young workers into unions, the revitalization of unions through institutional change (three key criteria are delineated), and the results of a survey (interviews, focus groups) that was conducted by the authors. Concludes that youth should play a greater role than consultation and education — that they should have a voice rather than a presence in union councils — which in turn would encourage participation by other minority groups in union renewal.

The article reviews the book, "The Communist International and US Communism, 1919–1929," by Jacob A. Zumoff.

This paper seeks to answer two questions: 1- To what extent are negotiators in collective bargaining influenced by different types of external information? 2- How can differences in the influence of external information between negotiators be explained by the characteristics of the negotiators and bargaining units? A standardized questionnaire measuring self-reported influences of different types of external information was developed and administered to a representative sample of union and firm negotiators in the Netherlands. In total, 123 negotiators participated in the survey. Four types of external information were investigated: 1- economic information; 2- information on organizational power; 3- institutional information; and 4- information spillovers. Descriptive analyses show that economic information, particularly when referring to the sector level, was very influential, as was institutional information on national and sectoral collective agreement developments. Information reflecting organizational power, e.g. militancy, carried less weight, while information on other bargaining events, i.e. spillover, was also very important. From extant theory, empirical findings and common assumptions in labour relations literature, the paper developed and tested a number of hypotheses concerning the influence of external information. It was found that the influence of spillovers increased with the proximity of their source. Union negotiators were generally more influenced by external information than firm negotiators. There was some evidence that influence increased with experience, but this effect was rather modest. Evidence that negotiators in sector bargaining were less affected by the economic environment than negotiators in company bargaining was weak, but they were found to be less influenced by spillovers and international collective agreement developments.

The article reviews the book, "L’approche systémique de la gestion des ressources humaines dans les administrations publiques du XXIe siècle," by Louise Lemire, Gaétan Martel and Éric Charest.

The article reviews the book, "Working Men's Bodies: Work Camps in Britain, 1880-1940," by John Field.

In 2013, the Poverty and Employment Precarity in Southern Ontario (PEPSO) research group released the report, "It's More than Poverty: Employment Precarity and Household Wellbeing." Based on 4,165 surveys collected in late 2011 and early 2012, and 83 interviews conducted in 2011 with workers in different forms of precarious employment, It's More than Poverty examined the characteristics of employment in the Greater Toronto-Hamilton Area (GTHA). It documented the range of employment experiences and it revealed the extent of insecurity associated with insecure employment relationships. Equally important, it showed the impact of insecure employment relationships on individual and household well-being and community participation.... --From Executive Summary.

The article reviews the book, "Rebel Youth: 1960s Labour Unrest, Young Workers, and New Leftists in English Canada," by Ian Milligan.

This article reviews the book, "The First Green Wave: Pollution Probe and the Origins of Environmental Activism in Ontario," by Ryan O’Connor.

The article reviews the book, "Revolutionizing Retail: Workers, Political Action, and Social Change," by Kendra Coulter.

The article reviews the book, "According to Baba: A Collaborative Oral History of Sudbury's Ukrainian Community," by Stacey Zembrzycki.

This article reviews the book, "The Match Girl and the Heiress," by Seth Koven.

Indigenous North Americans continue to be overrepresented among those who are poor, unemployed, and with low levels of education. This has long been an issue of concern for Indigenous people and their allies and is now drawing the attention of government, business leaders, and others who know that this fast-growing population is a critical source of future labour. Shauna MacKinnon's Decolonizing Employment: Aboriginal Inclusion in Canada's Labour Market is a case study with lessons applicable to communities throughout North America. Her examination of Aboriginal labour market participation outlines the deeply damaging, intergenerational effects of colonial policies and describes how a neoliberal political economy serves to further exclude Indigenous North Americans. MacKinnon's work demonstrates that a fundamental shift in policy is required. Long-term financial support for comprehensive, holistic education and training programs that integrate cultural reclamation and small supportive learning environments is needed if we are to improve social and economic outcomes and support the spiritual and emotional healing that Aboriginal learners tell us is of primary importance. --Publisher's description. Contents: Introduction -- Social exclusion, poverty, inequality, and policy in the neo-liberal age -- The labour market, policy, and Canada's aboriginal population -- The Manitoba labour force and the policy environment -- Decolonization: confronting the elephant in the room -- Assessing the impact of neo-liberal training policy -- A continuum of training responses -- Voices from the front lines -- Lessons learned: implications for policy -- Conclusion. Includes bibliographical references (pages 193-204) and index.